MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will meet U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam this week, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Monday, November 6.
Aside from the most likely opportunities when the two heads of state are most likely to meet, from the welcome dinner on November 8 to the gala dinner and the meeting between APEC and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which the Philippines currently chairs, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Leo Herrera-Lim said a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit is also possible.
Should this happen, he said, they are likely to discuss national and regional security, and trade opportunities.
While the Foreign Affairs official would not disclose which countries may have sought meetings with Duterte on the sidelines of the APEC meet, he did say that the Philippines is seeking bilateral meetings with a number of heads of state, especially those who will not be attending the ASEAN summit and its related meetings in Manila.
Among these are Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who will not be coming to Manila.
Duterte might also meet either Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang or Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
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